Starnes' 72 gives him a Junior Tour victory at Wilmington

   Catching up after a long, long day caddying for Haverford School junior A.J. Aivazoglou in the U.S. Amateur qualifier at Stonewall. More on that in another post, but I’ve got some time because my feet aren’t recovering quickly, so I might miss a couple of caddying days. First, from the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour …

   W. David Starnes of Kennett Square fired a solid 2-over-par 72 to top the field in the 16-to-18 division in a Junior Tour stop Monday at Wilmington Country Club’s North Course.

   Starnes had a birdie on the front nine and two more on the inward nine over the 6,147-yard, par-70 North Course layout. Richard Kline III of Kennett Square was the runnerup with a 75.

   Austin Lauver of Lancaster finished third with a 77. Four players – Jack Murray of Pottstown and the Stonewall caddyshack, Samuel Bertrando of West Chester, Michael Hamilton of Berwyn and Nathan Potts of Wilmington, Del. – finished tied for fourth, each carding a 79.

   Rounding out the top 10 were four players tied for eighth at 80, including Kaden Kinard of New Castle, Del., Tyler Mayhew and Frankie Markiewicz, both of Middletown, Del., and Carter Valerio of Rosemont.

   Kevin Smith, a sophomore at Strath Haven, won a scorecard playoff to claim a victory in the 13-to-15 division after finishing tied with Connor Bennink of Kennett Square, each posting a 3-over 73. Smith’s back-nine 37 gave him the tiebreaker edge.

   The youngsters in the 13-to-15 division collectively played some pretty solid golf with a dozen players breaking 80.

   Jack Cooley of Chadds Ford and Jackson Putney of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. finished tied for third at 75 and Joseph Morganti of Havertown and Chase Stephano of Radnor shared fifth place at 77.

   Roy Anderson of Chadds Ford and Garnet Valley sophomore Jacob Sokalsky finished tied for seventh at 78. Rounding out the top 10 were four players tied for ninth at 79, including William Bennink of the Kennett Square Benninks, Matthew Homer of Wilmington, Corey Haydu of Doylestown and Kyle Resuta of Phoenixville.

   Grace Hickey of Downingtown had to go to the second tiebreaker before emerging as the winner in the girls 16-to-18 division after finishing tied with Christina Carroll of Bear, Del., each carding an 84.

Elise Glauser of Newark, Del. finished third with a 95, Faith Rule of Dowingtown was fourth with a 97, Amanda Heins of Malvern was fifth with a 99 and Shae Cabaddu of Downingtown was sixth with a 106.

   Victoria Kim of West Chester carded an 82, making a birdie on the tough par-3 seventh, to take top honors in the 13-to-15 division. Marple Newtown sophomore Gillyoung Koh was the runnerup with a 90.

   Caitlyn Hagerty of Glen Mills finished third with a 93, Grace Smith of Wallingford and Episcopal Academy freshman Kathleen Mark shared fourth place at 95 and Leah Walter of West Chester was sixth with a 101.

   Kristof Kopecky of Garnet Valley was rock solid down the stretch, making pars on the last five holes, to post a 4-over 39 and top the field of nine-holers. Henry Stone of Kennett Square was the runnerup with a 41.

   Jason (Jack) homer of Wilmington finished third with a 42, Benjamin Saggers of West Chester was fourth with a 43 and Christopher DiRita of Drexel Hill and Nicholas Joyce of Quakertown shared fifth place at 44.

   Sawyer Brockstedt of Rehoboth Beach, Del. finished seventh with a 45, Daniel Shin of Horsham was eighth with a 46, Kaitlyn Ferrer of Kennett Square was ninth with a 47 and Jason DiRita of Media rounded out the top 10 with a 48.

   Andrew Hewitt of Lincoln University birdied his first hole of the day on his way to a solid 2-over 72 to capture the men’s 17-to-24 division. Andrew Gavin of Havertown was the runnerup with an 87 and Joshua Sheehan of Abington took third with an 89.

   Annalia Kostow of Lebanon was the winner of the women’s 17-to-24 division with a 93. Gabriella Morganti, a former Academy of Notre Dame standout from Havertown, was the runnerup with a 103.